Moving in the folk circles as I do, it probably doesn't come as a great surprise that my facebook news feed has been dominated lately by enthusiastic support for Jeremy Corbyn's campaign to become leader of the Labour party. Many herald his position as a return to 'old labour' values and socialism and a proper left wing alternative to what they see as the current Tory-lite Labour ethos. It would appear though that it is not just the folk world that is backing Jeremy Corbyn. He has emerged as an unlikely favourite in the race with union and grassroots backing and many have been drawn to his straight talking, question answering (rare indeed) and honest approach to politics.

Predictably, this has rather torn the Labour party apart of late. Seemingly the outsider, Corbyn has become the frontrunner in the race and the other three candidates and many other MPs are horrified at the prospect of a genuine left-winger leading the party ostensibly because they are worried about the party's electoral prospects but rather more likely worried about the job falling to someone outside of the Blairite/Brownite circle. It has to be said as well that their surprise at his success does perhaps rather hint at the complete failure of a majority of politicians (on all sides) to realise just how bored the populace at large is of the robotic and script-heavy MP. Much of Corbyn's success is actually

Well it's been a while since my last blog since when I've moved house! It's great to be in anyway and things are beautifully organised...again (more to follow). Coming back from Norway I was straight back into gigging action with an appearance at Maverick Festival which was a whole lot of fun! It was particularly great to meet the great Billy Bragg who was an absolute gentleman and very entertaining with it. My gig was a lot of fun too with a standing crowd so a very energetic set!

Next up was a week of Live Music Now work with Mr Nic Zuppardi on the mandolin. First up was the Manchester area where we played at a youth centre in the morning then a home for former service men and women in the afternoon. Both were really rewarding and one girl who attempted to play eleven percussion instruments at once rather stood out! Then came four days in

I have returned to the UK once again from a foreign jaunt and I've a few gigs and home time to look forward to in July before heading to France with Urban Folk Quartet. I have returned from the wonderful Norway which is a beautiful country and one I particularly enjoyed this time. Norway is breathtaking in its beautiful views and phenomenal expense but the former far outweighs the latter. Upon arriving last Saturday it was straight to Nystua Bluegrass Festival, about an hour outside Oslo and the setting was absolutely lovely. The Norwegian sun shone down on some terrific music outside during the afternoon before the evening's entertainment moved inside to a delightful old barn which was packed to the rafters. My set was in the barn and I had a wonderful time and the audience were certainly up for it! A good party was had afterwards too so all in all a delightful gig. There followed the rare luxury of a few days abroad not gigging so after a day in Oslo I headed to Bergen to see chums

My Canadian trip is nearly at an end, I depart for Heathrow tomorrow evening. It has been an absolute blast as it was last time and the first big thank you I have to say is to the marvellous Meaghan Blanchard who once again has been fantastic and talented company as we've driven around the Maritimes and played our shows. First up after the excellent opening show outlined in my previous blog, we headed to Four Corners house concerts in Sackville which was a nice cosy little gig. Next up it was off to Halifax to play an afternoon show at the Carleton and an evening show at GPS house concerts in Dartmouth. Both were an absolute delight and it was particularly great to hear stunning fiddler Wendy McIsaac at the Carleton who performed after Meaghan and I. A couple of days rest followed before heading back to Halifax to play the Company

Well here I am in Canada. I'm in an extremely jolly mood after a really lovely evening last night. I write to you on a lovely day - the sun is shining, birds are singing and the view is beautiful! Last night Meaghan and I began our tour with a house concert run by two of the nicest people you could possibly meet. Michael and Shawn are so hospitable and so welcoming and they gave us a wonderful gig. The audience were similarly delightful and I feel I've made some new friends here in New Brunswick. As regular readers of this blog will know, there are things about my job that drive me up the pole and international travel can be hard work and stressful but it's so wonderful to come to another country, share music and meet such remarkable people. So quite a start to the tour and a lot to live up to!

Anyway, just to update you on happenings too I had a fantastic tour with UFQ. After Fishguard we played two delightful village halls in Wiltshire and stayed with some lovely people